Although not designed to map changes in Earth's gravity over time, ESA's extraordinary satellite has shown that the ice lost from West Antarctica over the last few years has left its signature.

Machu Picchu, Peru

This Pleiades image, acquired 11 August 2012, shows Machu Picchu in Peru. The Incan site is the source of many questions for archaeologists and historians and is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

A joint NOAA/NASA satellite is one of several satellites providing valuable information to aviators about volcanic hazards. An aviation "orange" alert was posted on 18 August 2014, for Bárðarbunga, a stratovolcano located under the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland, indicating the "volcano shows heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption."

A satellite Earth observation image ordered by National Space Centre's Maritime Surveillance Centre in Cork has played a critical role in saving 38 lives by enabling the location of a ship lost in the West Mediterranean due to an engine failure in September 2014.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has successfully demonstrated an innovative method of measuring winds and waves from space, using GNSS Reflectometry. This paves the way for a cost effective satellite system supporting the maritime sector and the organisations that rely on this information and it also offers improvements to weather services and climate research.

China plans to build an Earth observation system that integrates use of air, space and ground based technology, including drones, satellites and GPS systems in the next ten years, a top official said today.